1. Field
This field is generally related to browser extensions.
2. Related Art
Additional features can be added to browsers, such as a Chrome browser available from Google, Inc. or a Firefox browser available from Mozilla, using browser extensions. In general, the browser extension must be implemented for a particular browser type (e.g. Firefox) and often for a particular operating system (e.g. a Windows operating system available from Microsoft Inc.). To support multiple browsers or operating systems, multiple versions of the browser extension generally must be developed.
Some web sites provide features that, while not constituting a browser extension, effectively augment browser functionality. For example, some web pages may present a user-interface element that represents a toolbar at the top of the page. Those web pages may include an additional HTML IFRAME or FRAME below the toolbar user-interface element that navigates to different web content. In contrast to browser extensions, these user-interface elements may be browser-independent. However, they are not persistently installed in the browser. For this reason, they are generally only present when the user navigates to the particular web sites that present these elements. Further, because the user-interface element is merely presented on the browser's content area and not installed in the browser, the user-interface element may not be able to access as many system resources as a browser extension.
In another example, some websites provide bookmarklets that may provide some additional functionality to a browser. Bookmarklets are included in a browser as a bookmark and, when selected, cause JavaScript code to execute. Bookmarklets have been used to share the web page currently being viewed and to alter the web page currently being viewed. Because bookmarklets are included in a browser as a bookmark, bookmarklets are more persistent than user-interface elements included in web pages. However, similar to the user-interface elements included in web pages, bookmarklets may not be able to access as many system resources as browser extensions. Further, bookmarklets are limited in that, in general, a browser always presents a bookmarklet to a user as a bookmark.
Improved systems and methods are needed that extend browser functionality.